Communication device

ABSTRACT

A communication device includes an RF receiver that receives a combined signal including a first signal transmitted from a first node and a second signal transmitted from a second node, a channel estimator that estimates first channel information of the first signal and second channel information of the second signal, respectively, a multiuser detector that detects original signal values of the combined signal using the estimated first and second channel information and an RF transmitter that transmits a signal generated based on the values detected by the multiuser detector to the first node and the second node during a predetermined period.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide mobile devices with various contents, such as voice, text, image, and moving pictures. For example, multiple channel access techniques allow multiple users to share system resources, such as bandwidth and transmission power. Examples of multiple channel access techniques include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems. Such multiple channel access techniques can simultaneously support communication between multiple mobile devices.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of communication devices and communication methods are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a communication device includes an RF receiver that receives a combined signal including a first signal transmitted from a first node and a second signal transmitted from a second node, a channel estimator that estimates first channel information of the first signal and second channel information of the second signal, respectively, a multiuser detector that detects original signal values of the combined signal using the estimated first and second channel information, and an RF transmitter that transmits a signal generated based on the original signal values detected by the multiuser detector to the first node and the second node during a predetermined period.

In another embodiment, a communication method includes estimating first channel information of a first signal and second channel information of a second signal transmitted simultaneously from different nodes, detecting original signal values of a combined signal including the first signal and the second signal based on the estimated first and second channel information by a multiuser detector, and transmitting a signal generated based on the detected original signal values to the different nodes during a predetermined period.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A shows a schematic diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a communication system.

FIG. 1B shows a schematic block diagram illustrating components of the communication devices of the communication system of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of symbol candidates of the signal received by the relay node shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of the relay node shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 4 shows a detailed block diagram of another illustrative embodiment of the relay node shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram explaining an illustrative embodiment of a communication method.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram explaining another illustrative embodiment of a communication method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the Figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated herein.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a communication device including a multiuser detector that detects values of a combined signal. The combined signal includes a first signal transmitted from a first node and a second signal transmitted from a second node using estimated first and second channel information.

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a communication system. FIG. 1B is a schematic block diagram illustrating components of the communication devices of the communication system of FIG. 1A. As depicted in FIG. 1A, a communication system 100 includes multiple communication devices 110, 120 and 130. Each communication device 110, 120 or 130 can transmit, receive or relay signals, and act as either a source node or a relay node. Various types of handheld communication apparatuses such as, but not limited to, mobile phones, smart phones or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) can be used for communication devices 110, 120 and 130. For the purpose of description, it is assumed hereinafter that communication devices 110 and 130 each act as a source node (for example, first node 110 and second node 130), and communication device 120 acts as a relay node. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that any of communication devices 110, 120 and 130 can act as a source node, a relay node, or a combination thereof.

As depicted in FIG. 1A, first node 110 and second node 130, as source nodes, substantially simultaneously transmit signals s₁ and s₃ to relay node 120 during a time slot 1 (as depicted by a solid directional line in FIG. 1A). As used herein the time slot 1 can be defined as an uplink slot during which signals s₁ and s₃ of first and second nodes 110 and 130 are transmitted to relay node 120 based on a predetermined communication protocol.

The transmitted first and second signals s₁ and s₃ are combined on a physical layer such as, but not limited to, air interface, to generate a combined signal y₂. Combined signal y₂ is received at relay node 120. When combined signal y₂ is distorted after passing through multi path fading channel, the original signal values of combined signal y₂ can be detected by a multiuser detector 330 of relay node 120, which will be further described in detail hereinafter. As used herein, the original signal values of combined signal y₂ refer to the values of combined signal y₂ in which no distortion is occurred. Relay node 120 then transmits signal s₂ generated based on the detected original signal values of combined signal y₂ to first node 110 and second node 130 during a time slot 2 (as depicted by a broken or dashed directional line in FIG. 1A). As used herein, the time slot 2 can be defined as a downlink slot during which signal s₂ is received at first and second nodes 110 and 130 based on the predetermined communication protocol.

As depicted in FIG. 1B, first node 110 includes a first encoder 111, a first decoder 113 and a first XOR (exclusive or) operator 115. Second node 130 includes a second encoder 131, a second decoder 133 and a second XOR (exclusive or) operator 135.

First and second encoders 111 and 131 perform channel coding on signals s₁ and s₃ to generate encoded signals w₁ and w₃, respectively. In some embodiments, first and second encoders 111 and 131 perform the channel coding by selectively inserting redundant bits into signals s₁ and s₃. By inserting redundant bits, bit errors of signals s₁ and s₃ can be detected and corrected so that reliable signal transmission is achieved. First node 110 and second node 130 transmit encoded signals w₁ and w₃, respectively, for reception by relay node 120. Prior to reception by relay node 120, encoded signals w₁ and w₃ are combined on a physical layer, such as an air interface.

Relay node 120 receives combined signal y₂ including encoded signals w₁ and w₃. Further, relay node 120 detects original signal values of combined signal y₂ using multiuser detector 330 and generates signal s₂ using the original signal values, which will be further described hereinafter. Relay node 120 transmits signal s₂ to both first node 110 and second node 130.

First decoder 113 of first node 110 decodes signal s₂ and second decoder 133 of second node 130 decodes signal s₂. First and second decoders 113 and 133 provide decoded signal ŝ₂ to first and second XOR operators 115 and 135, respectively.

First XOR operator 115 of first node 110 performs an XOR operation on decoded signal ŝ₂ and first signal s₁ to generate second signal s₃ that has been transmitted from second node 130. Since decoded signal ŝ₂ is the decoded signal of signal s₂ which is generated using combined signal y₂, it includes first signal s₁ and second signal s₃. Thus, first node 110 can receive second signal s₃ transmitted from second node 130 using the XOR operation.

Second XOR operator 135 of second node 130 performs an XOR operation on decoded signal ŝ₂ and second signal s₃ to generate first signal s₁ that has been transmitted from first node 110. Since decoded signal ŝ₂ includes first signal s₁ and second signal s₃, as described above, second node 130 can receive first signal s₁ using the XOR operation.

In the illustrative embodiment, signals (for example, signal s₁ and signal s₃) can be transmitted and received between first and second nodes 110 and 130 which are far away from each other during relatively short time periods, for example, two time slots (for example, time slots 1 and 2).

In the above-stated illustrative embodiment, the channel codes used by encoders 111 and 131 and decoders 113 and 133 have linearity. For example, the channel codes may include Linear Block Codes, such as Hamming codes, Golay codes, BCH codes, Reed Solomon codes and (Linear) Convolution Codes. However, the channel codes used by encoders 111 and 131 and decoders 113 and 133 are not limited thereto and any channel code having linearity may be employed.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of symbol candidates of a signal received by the relay node of FIGS. 1A and 1B. A combined signal including multiple signals is expressed with information of signals each transmitted from a multiple number of nodes and channel information of the transmitted signals. The channel information includes a channel coefficient of an ith node at a certain time slot and an average received power level at the ith node. By way of example, but not limitation, the channel coefficient may be an independent and identically-distributed (i.i.d.) complex Gaussian random variable with variance one (1). Further, noise is added to the combined signal. The noise may be Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) whose power spectral density is N₀, but the noise is not limited thereto.

For example, the combined signal received by relay node 120 (see FIG. 1A) is expressed by Equation 1 as follows.

y ₂ =h ₁√{square root over (P ₁)}x ₁ +h ₃√{square root over (P ₃)}x ₃ +n  [Equation 1]

Here, x₁ denotes a symbol value of first signal s₁ transmitted from first node 110 (see FIG. 1A), x₃ denotes a symbol value of second signal s₃ transmitted from second node 130 (see FIG. 1A) and y₂ denotes the combined signal received by relay node 120. Further, h₁ and h₃ respectively denote channel coefficients of first signal s₁ and second signal s₃, and P₁ and P₃ respectively denote average received power levels at first node 110 and second node 130. Furthermore, n denotes Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) added to first signal s₁ and second signal s₃.

For example, if first node 110 and second node 130 transmit BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) modulated signals, symbol values x₁ and x₃ are minus one (−1) or one (1). Accordingly, combined signal y₂ has four possible symbol candidates as expressed in the following Equation 2.

C ₀₀ =h ₁√{square root over (P ₁)}+h ₃√{square root over (P ₃)},C ₁₀ =−h ₁√{square root over (P ₁)}+h ₃√{square root over (P ₃)},

C ₁₁ =−h ₁√{square root over (P ₁)}−h ₃√{square root over (P ₃)},C ₀₁ =h ₁√{square root over (P ₁)}−h ₃√{square root over (P ₃)}  [Equation 2]

In Equation 2, C₀₀ is a possible symbol candidate when symbol value x₁ of first signal s₁ is one (1) and symbol value x₃ of second signal s₃ is one (1). C₁₀ is a possible symbol candidate when symbol value x₁ of first signal s₁ is minus one (−1) and symbol value x₃ of second signal s₃ is one (1). C₁₁ is a possible symbol candidate when symbol value x₁ of first signal s₁ is minus one (−1) and symbol value x₃ of second signal s₃ is minus one (−1). C₀₁ is a possible symbol candidate when symbol value x₁ of first signal s₁ is one (1) and symbol value x₃ of second signal s₃ is minus one (−1).

Referring to FIG. 2 and Equation 2, combined signal y₂ is determined as one (1) if the symbol of combined signal y₂ is detected as C₁₀ or C₀₁. Further, combined signal y₂ is determined as zero (0) if the symbol of combined signal y₂ is detected as C₀₀ or C₁₁. Since, first signal s₁ and second signal s₃ are combined during time slot 1 (as depicted by a solid arrow in FIG. 1A), symbol value x₁ of first signal s₁ and symbol value x₃ of second signal s₃ are XOR operated each other. Accordingly, if symbol value x₁ and x₃ are the same, combined signal y₂ is one (1) and if symbol value x₁ and x₃ are different, combined signal y₂ is zero (0).

Although the BPSK modulation signals have been illustrated above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that any modulation method, such as M-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) method can also be used.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of the relay node shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In the illustrative embodiment, relay node 120 includes an RF (Radio Frequency) receiver 310, a channel estimator 320, a multiuser detector 330, a decoder 340 (optional), an encoder 350 (optional) and an RF transmitter 360.

RF receiver 310 receives combined signal y₂ including first signal s₁ transmitted from first node 110 (see FIG. 1A) and second signal s₃ transmitted from second node 130 (see FIG. 1A) during time slot 1 (as depicted by a solid directional line in FIG. 3). As discussed in the paragraphs [0018], first signal s₁ and second signal s₃ may be encoded signals and they can be combined on a physical layer. RF receiver 310 provides combined signal y₂ to multiuser detector 330. Further, RF receiver 310 receives first and second pilot signals (not shown) from first and second nodes 110 and 130 and provides the received first and second pilot signals to channel estimator 320.

Channel estimator 320 estimates channel information including a received power level and a channel coefficient by using the first and second pilot signals received by RF receiver 310. For example, channel estimator 320 estimates first channel information including a first received power level and a first channel coefficient of first signal s₁ by using the first pilot signal transmitted from first node 110 through RF receiver 310. Further, channel estimator 320 estimates second channel information including a second received power level and a second channel coefficient of second signal s₃ by using the second pilot signal transmitted from second node 130 through RF receiver 310. Then, channel estimator 320 provides the estimated first and second channel information to multiuser detector 330.

Multiuser detector 330 detects original signal values of combined signal y₂ received from RF receiver 310 using the estimated first and second channel information received from channel estimator 320. The values detected by multiuser detector 330 may be, but not limited to, one (1) or zero (0), and can be varied depending on a modulation method.

Multiuser detector 330 employs various detecting methods such as, but not limited to, a joint ML (maximum likelihood) detecting method and any other multiuser detecting method.

To detect the original signal values of combined signal y₂, multiuser detector 330 is configured to execute LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation of combined signal y₂. For example, if BPSK is used as a modulation method, the LLR (log likelihood ratio) value is calculated by Equation 3 as follows.

$\begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} {\Lambda_{s_{2}} = {\log \frac{P\left( {s_{2} = {0y_{2}}} \right)}{P\left( {s_{2} = {1y_{2}}} \right)}}} \\ {{= {\log \frac{{P\left( {{s_{1} = 0},{s_{3} = {0y_{2}}}} \right)} + {P\left( {{s_{1} = 1},{s_{3} = {1y_{2}}}} \right)}}{{P\left( {{s_{1} = 1},{s_{3} = {0y_{2}}}} \right)} + {P\left( {{s_{1} = 0},{s_{3} = {1y_{2}}}} \right)}}}},} \end{matrix} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{11mu} 3} \right\rbrack \end{matrix}$

Here, Λ_(s2) denotes the LLR (log likelihood ratio) value, and P(A) denotes a probability of occurrence of an event A. For example, P(s₁=0, s₃=0|y₂) is a probability of occurrence of an event in which, when combined signal y₂ is received, the values of first signal s₁ and second signal s₃ are zero (0), respectively. If Λ_(s2) is equal to or less than zero (0), the original signal value of combined signal y₂ is determined as one (1). If Λ_(s2) is larger than zero (0), the original signal value of combined signal y₂ is determined as zero (0).

Further, assuming that a first probability (the value of first signal s₁ is zero (0)) and a second probability (the value of first signal s₁ is one (1)) are equal; and that a third probability (the value of second signal s₃ is zero (0)) and a fourth probability (the value of second signal s₃ is one (1)) are equal, Equation 3 is expressed by the following Equation 4 according to Bayes' rule.

$\begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} {\Lambda_{S_{2}} = {\log \frac{{p\left( {{{y_{2}s_{1}} = 0},{s_{3} = 0}} \right)} + {p\left( {{{y_{2}s_{1}} = 1},{s_{3} = 1}} \right)}}{{p\left( {{{y_{2}s_{1}} = 1},{s_{3} = 0}} \right)} + {p\left( {{{y_{2}s_{1}} = 0},{s_{3} = 1}} \right)}}}} \\ {{= {\log \frac{{\exp\left( {- \frac{{{y_{2} - C_{00}}}^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}} \right)} + {\exp\left( {- \frac{{{y_{2} - C_{11}}}^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}} \right)}}{{\exp\left( {- \frac{{{y_{2} - C_{10}}}^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}} \right)} + {\exp\left( {- \frac{{{y_{2} - C_{01}}}^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}} \right)}}}},} \end{matrix} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 4} \right\rbrack \end{matrix}$

Here, p(α) denotes a probability density function of α. For example, p(y₂|s₁=0, s₃=0) is a probability density function of combined signal y₂ when the value of first signal s₁ is zero (0) and the value of second signal s₃ is zero (0). σ² denotes a variance, and C₀₀, C_(0l), C₁₀ and C₁₁ denote the symbol candidates of combined signal y₂ as expressed in Equation 2, respectively.

Multiuser detector 330 produces a vector L₂ composed of the values detected as a result of the LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation and provides vector L₂ to decoder 340.

Although relay node 120 has been described to execute the LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation on BPSK modulated signals, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation can also be applied to another signals modulated by another modulation method, such as M-QAM.

As described above, multiuser detector 330 produces vector L₂ with a multiuser detecting method, such as a joint ML (maximum likelihood) detecting method. Therefore, relay node 120 can decrease multi path fading even if a pre-equalizer, which is used to compensate the multi path fading, is not provided.

Decoder 340 receives vector L₂ having the LLR (log likelihood ratio) values and decodes vector L₂ using a first channel code to generate decoded vector ŝ₂. Further, decoder 340 provides decoded vector ŝ₂ to encoder 350.

Encoder 350 receives decoded vector ŝ₂ from decoder 340 and encodes decoded vector ŝ₂ using a second channel code to generate an encoded vector ŵ′₂. Then, encoder 350 provides encoded vector ŵ′₂ to RF transmitter 360. As described in the paragraph [0024], the first and second channel codes have linearity, and various channel codes having linearity can be used for the first and second channel codes.

RF transmitter 360 modulates encoded vector ŵ′₂ into signal s₂ and transmits signal s₂ to first node 110 and second node 130 during time slot 2 (as depicted by a broken arrow in FIG. 3).

In another embodiment, relay node 120 is configured without decoder 340 and encoder 350. Since decoder 340 and encoder 350 are omitted, the decoding and encoding of vector L₂ are also omitted in this embodiment. Particularly, in response to combined signal y₂ transmitted from RF receiver 310 and the first and second channel information estimated by channel estimator 320, multiuser detector 330 generates vector L₂, and provide it to RF transmitter 360. In response to vector L₂, RF transmitter 360 generates signal s₂ without the above-mentioned decoding and encoding processes, and transmits generated signal s₂ to first and second nodes 110 and 130. First node 110 and second node 130 decodes signal s₂ using decoder 113 and 133 (See FIG. 1B) as discussed in the paragraph [0020].

Accordingly, as discussed in the paragraphs [0021] and [0022], first and second nodes 110 and 130 obtain signals s₃ and s₁ respectively by XOR operations of the decoded signals of signal s₂ and their own signals s₁ and s₃. Since all of the channel codes used by first and second nodes 110 and 130, decoder 340 and encoder 350 have linearity, the decoded signals of signal s₂ satisfies linearity with respect to signals s₁ and s₃ and signals s₁ and s₃ can be obtained respectively by the XOR operation.

FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of another illustrative embodiment of the relay node shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In this embodiment, a relay node 400 includes an RF (Radio Frequency) receiver 410, a channel estimator 420, a multiuser detector 430, a first decoder 440, a second decoder 450, an XOR operator 460, an encoder 470 and an RF transmitter 480. Since the function and operation of RF receiver 410, channel estimator 420, encoder 470 and RF transmitter 480 in FIG. 4 are substantially identical or similar to those of RF receiver 310, channel estimator 320, encoder 350 and RF transmitter 360 respectively in FIG. 3, redundant description thereof will be omitted herein.

Relay node 400 includes two decoders (for example, first decoder 440 and second decoder 450), while relay node 120 depicted in FIG. 3 includes one decoder 340. Further, relay node 400 includes XOR operator 460 in association with first and second decoders 440 and 450.

As in relay node 120 depicted in FIG. 3, multiuser detector 430 receives combined signal y₂ from RF receiver 410 and estimated first and second channel information from channel estimator 420. While multiuser detector 330 depicted in FIG. 3 detects original signal values of combined signal y₂, multiuser detector 430 depicted in FIG. 4 detects the values of first signal s₁ and second signal s₃ respectively from combined signal y₂. Then, the original signal values of combined signal y₂ are generated using the detected values of first signal s₁ and second signal s₃. Specifically, multiuser detector 430 detects values of first signal s₁ based on first channel information and second channel information estimated by channel estimator 420. Further, multiuser detector 430 detects values of second signal s₃ based on the first channel information and the second channel information. At this time, the values detected by multiuser detector 430 may be, but not limited to, one (1) or zero (0), and can be varied depending on the modulation method. Furthermore, multiuser detector 430 generates two vectors (first and second vectors L₁ and L₃) for first and second signals s₁ and s₃, respectively.

Particularly, multiuser detector 430 executes LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation of first signal s₁ and second signal s₃. For example, if BPSK is used as a modulation method, the LLR (log likelihood ratio) value of first signal s₁ is expressed by the following Equation 5.

$\begin{matrix} {\Lambda_{s_{1}} = {\log \frac{{P\left( {{s_{1} = 0},{s_{3} = {0y_{2}}}} \right)} + {P\left( {{s_{1} = 0},{s_{3} = {1y_{2}}}} \right)}}{{P\left( {{s_{1} = 1},{s_{3} = {0y_{2}}}} \right)} + {P\left( {{s_{1} = 1},{s_{3} = {1y_{2}}}} \right)}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 5} \right\rbrack \end{matrix}$

Further, the LLR (log likelihood ratio) value of second signal s₃ is expressed by the following Equation 6.

$\begin{matrix} {\Lambda_{s_{3}} = {\log \frac{{P\left( {{s_{1} = 0},{s_{3} = {0y_{2}}}} \right)} + {P\left( {{s_{1} = 1},{s_{3} = {0y_{2}}}} \right)}}{{P\left( {{s_{1} = 0},{s_{3} = {1y_{2}}}} \right)} + {P\left( {{s_{1} = 1},{s_{3} = {1y_{2}}}} \right)}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 6} \right\rbrack \end{matrix}$

In Equations 5 and 6, P(A) denotes a probability of occurrence of an event A. For example, P(s₁=0, s₃=0|y₂) is a probability of occurrence of an event in which, when combined signal y₂ is received, the values of first signal s₁ and second signal s₃ are respectively zero (0). If the LLR (log likelihood ratio) Λ_(s1) or Λ_(s3) is equal to or less than zero (0), the value of first signal s₁ or second signal s₃ is determined as one (1). If Λ_(s1) or Λ_(s3) is larger than zero (0), the value of first signal s₁ or second signal s₃ is determined as zero (0).

Further, multiuser detector 430 produces a first vector L₁ composed of the LLR (log likelihood ratio) values of first signal s₁ and provides first vector L₁ to first decoder 440. Furthermore, multiuser detector 430 produces a second vector L₃ composed of the LLR (log likelihood ratio) values of second signal s₃ and provides second vector L₃ to second decoder 450.

First decoder 440 receives first vector L₁ composed of the LLR (log likelihood ratio) values of first signal s₁ and decodes first vector L₁ using a first channel code. Further, first decoder 440 provides a decoded vector to XOR operator 460.

Second decoder 450 receives second vector L₃ composed of the LLR (log likelihood ratio) values of second signal s₃ and decodes second vector L₃ using a second channel code. Further, second decoder 450 provides a decoded vector ŝ₃ to XOR operator 460.

XOR operator 460 performs an XOR operation on decoded vector ŝ₁ and decoded vector ŝ₃. Accordingly, XOR operator 460 generates a combined vector ŝ₂ and then provides combined vector ŝ₂ to encoder 470.

Encoder 470 encodes combined vector ŝ₂ using a third channel code and then transmits an encoded vector ŵ′₂ to RF transmitter 480. RF transmitter 480 modulates encoded vector ŵ′₂ into signal s₂ and transmits signal s₂ to both first node 110 (see FIG. 1A) and second node 130 (see FIG. 1A). As described in the paragraph [0024], the first, second and third channel codes have linearity, and various channel codes having linearity can be used for the first, second and third channel codes.

Although first decoder 440, second decoder 450 and encoder 470 are shown in FIG. 4, they are optional and may be omitted in certain embodiments. In an example embodiment in which relay node 400 is configured without first decoder 440, second decoder 450 and encoder 470, XOR operator 460 performs an XOR operation directly on first vector L₁ and second vector L₃, each received from multiuser detector 430, and RF transmitter 480 transmits a signal generated by the XOR-operation without the above-mentioned decoding and encoding processes.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram explaining an illustrative embodiment of a communication method. Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 3 and 5, an example embodiment of a communication method is illustrated. A signal (for example, a combined signal y₂) is received in a communication device (for example, relay node 120) during a certain time period (for example, time slot 1) (Operation 510). The signal includes two encoded signals (for example, first signal s₁ transmitted from first node 110 and second signal s₃ transmitted from second node 130, which is combined on a physical layer).

Channel information is estimated by using a pilot signal received by RF receiver 310 (Operation 520). The channel information includes a received power level and a channel coefficient. For example, first channel information is estimated using a first pilot signal transmitted from first node 110. The first channel information includes a first received power level and a first channel coefficient of first signal s₁. Further, second channel information is estimated using a second pilot signal transmitted from second node 130. The second channel information includes a second received power level and a second channel coefficient of second signal s₃.

Original signal values of combined signal y₂ received in operation 510 are detected using the first and second channel information estimated in operation 520 (Operation 530). Further, vector L₂ composed of the original signal values is produced by executing LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation (Operation 530). The values detected in operation 530 may be, but not limited to, one (1) or zero (0), and can be varied depending on the modulation method. Since the detailed process for detecting the original signal values of combined signal y₂ has already been discussed in the paragraphs [0036] and [0037] with reference to FIG. 3, redundant description thereof will be omitted herein.

Vector L₂ is decoded using a first channel code to generate vector ŝ₂ (Operation 540). Vector ŝ₂ decoded in operation 540 is encoded using a second channel code to generate vector ŵ′₂ (Operation 550). Vector ŵ′₂ encoded in operation 550 is modulated into signal s₂ and signal s₂ is transmitted to first node 110 and second node 130 during a predetermined period (for example, time slot 2) (Operation 560).

Signal s₂ is decoded into decoded vector ŝ₂ at first node 110 and first node 110 performs XOR-operation on decoded vector ŝ₂ and signal s₁ to obtain or generate second signal s₃ that has been transmitted from second node 130. Further, signal s₂ is decoded into decoded vector ŝ₂ at second node 130 and second node 130 performs XOR-operation on decoded vector ŝ₂ and signal s₃ to obtain or generate first signal s₁ that has been transmitted from first node 110.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram explaining another illustrative embodiment of a communication method. Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 4 and 6, an example embodiment of a communication method is illustrated. Since the function and process of operation 610 and 620 in FIG. 6 may be similar to those of operation 510 and 520 respectively in FIG. 5, redundant description thereof will be omitted herein.

As compared to operation 530 in FIG. 5 in which the values of one combined signal y₂ are detected, the values of two signals (first signal s₁ and second signal s₃) are detected, respectively (Operation 630). The values of first signal s₁ are detected using first channel information and second channel information estimated in operation 620 and the values of second signal s₃ are detected using the first channel information and the second channel information estimated in operation 620. The values of first signal s₁ and second signal s₃ can be detected using, but not limited to, LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation of first signal s₁ and second signal s₃, respectively. Since the detailed process for detecting the values of first signal s₁ and values of second signal s₃ is already discussed in the paragraph [0049] with reference to FIG. 4, redundant description thereof will be omitted herein.

Further, first vector L₁ is produced by executing LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation of first signal s₁ and second vector L₃ is produced by executing LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation of second signal s₃, respectively (Operation 640). The detected values may be, but not limited to, one (1) or zero (0), and can be varied depending on the modulation method.

First vector L₁ is decoded using a first channel code and second vector L₃ is decoded using a second channel code (Operation 650). Accordingly, decoded vectors s₁ and ŝ₃ are generated.

An XOR operation is performed on decoded vectors ŝ₁ and ŝ₃ and thus combined vector ŝ₂ is generated (Operation 660). Then, combined vector ŝ₂ is encoded to generate vector ŵ′₂ using a third channel code (Operation 670). Encoded vector ŵ′₂ is modulated into signal s₂ and signal s₂ is transmitted to both first node 110 and second node 130 during a predetermined period (for example, time slot 2) (Operation 680).

One skilled in the art will appreciate that, for this and other processes and methods disclosed herein, the functions performed in the processes and methods may be implemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined steps and operations are only provided as examples, and some of the steps and operations may be optional, combined into fewer steps and operations, or expanded into additional steps and operations without detracting from the essence of the disclosed embodiments.

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application, which are intended as illustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular methods, reagents, compounds compositions or biological systems, which can, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting.

In an illustrative embodiment, any of the operations, processes, etc. described herein can be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable instructions can be executed by a processor of a mobile unit, a network element, and/or any other computing device.

There is little distinction left between hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; the use of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software can become significant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs. There are various vehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologies described herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context in which the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle; if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet again alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a CD, a DVD, a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and a transmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein, and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such described devices and/or processes into data processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can be integrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system generally includes one or more of a system unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatile and non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and/or velocity; control motors for moving and/or adjusting components and/or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially available components, such as those typically found in data computing/communication and/or network computing/communication systems.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, such as in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein can be readily broken down into a second third, middle third and first third, etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as “up to,” “at least,” and the like include the number recited and refer to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a group having 1-3 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1-5 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so forth.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims. 

1. A communication device comprising: an RF receiver that receives a combined signal including a first signal transmitted from a first node and a second signal transmitted from a second node; a channel estimator that estimates first channel information of the first signal and second channel information of the second signal, respectively; a multiuser detector that detects original signal values of the combined signal using the estimated first and second channel information; and an RF transmitter that transmits a signal generated based on the original signal values detected by the multiuser detector to the first node and the second node during a predetermined period.
 2. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the multiuser detector is a joint-ML (maximum likelihood) detector.
 3. The communication device of claim 1, further comprising: a decoder that decodes a vector composed of the original signal values detected by the multiuser detector using a first channel code; and an encoder that encodes the decoded vector using a second channel code.
 4. The communication device of claim 3, wherein the first channel code and the second channel code have linearity.
 5. The communication device of claim 3, wherein the multiuser detector is configured to execute LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation of the combined signal.
 6. The communication device of claim 3, wherein the first channel information includes a received power level and a channel coefficient of the first signal, and the second channel information includes a received power level and a channel coefficient of the second signal.
 7. A communication device comprising: an RF receiver for receiving a combined signal including a first signal transmitted from a first node and a second signal transmitted from a second node; a channel estimator for estimating first channel information of the first signal and second channel information of the second signal, respectively; a multiuser detector for detecting values of the first signal and the second signal from the combined signal using the estimated first and second channel information; an XOR (exclusive-or) operator for performing an XOR-operation on the values of the first signal and the values of the second signal; and an RF transmitter for transmitting a signal generated based on the XOR-operation to the first node and the second node during a predetermined period.
 8. The communication device of claim 7, wherein the multiuser detector is a joint-ML (maximum likelihood) detector.
 9. The communication device of claim 7, further comprising: a first decoder for decoding a first vector composed of the detected values of the first signal using a first channel code; a second decoder for decoding a second vector composed of the detected values of the second signal using a second channel code; and an encoder for encoding the XOR-operated values using a third channel code wherein the XOR operator performs the XOR-operation on the decoded first vector and the decoded second vector.
 10. The communication device of claim 9, wherein the first channel code, the second channel code and the third channel code have linearity.
 11. The communication device of claim 9, wherein the multiuser detector is configured to execute LLR (log likelihood ratio) computation of the first signal and the second signal.
 12. The communication device of claim 9, wherein the first channel information includes a received power level and a channel coefficient of the first signal, and the second channel information includes a received power level and a channel coefficient of the second signal.
 13. A communication method comprising: estimating first channel information of a first signal and second channel information of a second signal transmitted substantially simultaneously from different nodes; detecting original signal values of a combined signal including the first signal and the second signal based on the estimated first and second channel information by a multiuser detecting method; and transmitting a signal generated based on the detected original signal values to the different nodes during a predetermined period.
 14. The communication method of claim 13, wherein the multiuser detecting method is a joint-ML (maximum likelihood) detecting method.
 15. The communication method of claim 13, further comprising: decoding a vector composed of the detected original signal values of the combined signal using a first channel code; and encoding the decoded vector using a second channel code.
 16. The communication method of claim 13, wherein detecting original signal values of the combined signal includes: detecting values of the first signal using the first and second channel information; and detecting values of the second signal using the first and second channel information.
 17. The communication method of claim 16, wherein detecting original signal values of the combined signal further includes: performing XOR-operation on the detected values of the first signal and the detected values of the second signal.
 18. The communication method of claim 17, further comprising: encoding a vector generated by the XOR-operation by using a second channel code. 